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An Olton woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early thirties – just two years after losing her husband to lung cancer – is working to improve patient care during and after treatment.

Zoe Jeavons was diagnosed with grade two breast cancer in 2011, at the age of 33 and just two years after husband Gary died from lung cancer.

After being in the clear since March 2012, Zoe, now aged 37, has been taking part in a research project, which tells her story and shares her experiences of when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My husband’s diagnosis was extremely hard,” said Zoe, who works in the admin department at Solihull College. “He had no symptoms and it all happened very quickly.

“Just as I was getting to a point where I thought it is time to pick myself up and get on with my life, I discovered a lump in my breast.

“I examined it for a while and eventually thought it just wasn’t right and I needed to see the doctor. After seeing what cancer can do, up close and personal, I was terrified when I was told my diagnosis.

“I like to think I would always have got something like this checked out with the doctor but I think seeing what Gary went through made me even more aware.”

Zoe is set to be a part of an exhibition entitled What if? The exhibition is a research project presented by doctoral researcher at the University of Westminster Christine Douglass, where nine women, who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, have been asked to tell their story and share their experiences using video cameras.

Zoe and the others taking part were provided with a video camera and asked to film their lives over a 10-month period.

The footage from the nine women has been put together ready to exhibit in London and gives an insight into the lives of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, much of which usually goes unseen and unsaid.

Zoe added: “Very often people think that when you have an operation and your treatment, then it is all over. But that’s not the case and it’s the aftermath which can be even harder to deal with.

“Even health professionals are not always the best at dealing with this.

“They never really have that conversation with you where they tell you that you are all in the clear. It’s more a case of fingers crossed.

“This work is about raising awareness of how patients are dealt with during and after their treatment.”

The exhibition, which opened today, will run until July 19 at the London Gallery West at the University of Westminster.